I would’ve gone after her if she hadn’t gotten my note. Being on the estate—being so close but so far—I couldn’t stand it. “You could’ve fallen.” I traced her pretty neck beneath the wreath of diamonds. “You could’ve hurt yourself for nothing.”
“Nothing? You’re hardly nothing.” She shivered under my touch. “I would’ve flown here with broken bones just to be with you.”
The air switched from stagnant to electric.
“You make me a better person.” Gathering her close, we lay nose to nose. “I mean to deserve you more every fucking day.”
Her lips parted, her gaze latching onto my mouth. Her thoughts turned from conversation to sex, dragging me deeper into her spell.
I’d lived through years of horror.
I’d gone through so many stages of denial.
And I’d done my best to remember who I was beneath the influx of commands from Cut. But in one look, Nila shredded me into pieces and shone light upon the man I’d forgotten existed. A man who’d found happiness in animals rather than humans. A man who’d tried so hard to please but only became broken. And a boy who’d met a girl in his past, who’d been raised to hate her, told he would torture and kill her, only to find the courage to love her instead.
“I want you.” I bent to kiss her. “I want you forever.” Our lips touched; shockwaves danced down my spine. My cock thickened and Nila once again took me hostage.
Her breathing caught, rattling in her lungs.
I pulled back. She’d been sick with no one to help her. How many other fucking secrets had she kept from me? “You were ill?”
She flushed. “It’s nothing. Just a cold. I’m fine.”
It wasn’t just a cold and it wasn’t fine. I’d let her down again. But as much as I hated her lying to me, I loved her all the more for being so selfless.
I don’t deserve this woman.
Nila’s lips whispered over mine again. “Besides, none of that matters now. You’re back. We can run.”
I froze.
Run?
There was no more running.
She pulled away, her face slowly sinking into despair. “Wait...youarehere for me, aren’t you?” Her voice babbled. “We’re leaving this place. We’re running tonight. We’ll get you better so we can end this when you’re strong enough. Youhaveto take me away, Jethro. I can’t go back. Ican’t.”
My heart fisted. I wanted to carve out my soul to make her understand. “I’m here for you, Nila. A thousand times here for you.”
She shuffled backward, but I trapped her wrist.
Tears shone in her eyes. “But you’re not going to save me tonight?”
I’m going to save more than you. Don’t you see?
So many lives rested on my shoulders—just like I’d carried all my life.
“We can’t run. I refuse to run again.”
She wiped away a tear, refusing to look at me.
I groaned, tracing the translucent skin of her wrist. “Running isn’t an option anymore. If I run and lick my wounds, he wins again. We have the element of surprise now. They think I’m dead. It gives me the perfect opportunity to end this. To be free. But it has to benow.”
“But you’re not well enough.”
Grabbing her hand, I placed it directly on my side. Gritting my teeth against the flare of pain, I growled, “I proved to you I’m alive by fucking you. I’m here to save you; you have my ultimate word. But there are others I need to save, too.”
She deflated, knowing I spoke the truth but not ready to accept it. Her emotions turned selfish, wanting to keep me for herself. She already agreed we couldn’t run—her thoughts blared it—but it didn’t stop her from indulging in one make-believe moment.
